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Saturday, June 4, 2011

She Found the MacKinzie-Childs Catalog....

Tessie came in last night when I was cleaning out old catalogs and magazines. It is my practice to go through them and cut and file the things that I like to cut down on piles. She surreptitiously grabbed one of the MacKinzie-Childs catalogs http://www.mackenzie-childs.com/default.aspx?crcat=brand~brands&crsource=adwords&crkw=mackenzie%20-%20childs&crcampaign=6331117588&gclid=CMeTxN6ln6kCFQUDbAodQmv4ug and disappeared.

When she came back, the thing had post it notes sticking out between almost every page.

She picked a basket as my first task. It looked easy enough, so this morning I went to work.

The bottom of the basket is solid. I chose to use a Woodsie for a base. I drilled holes about every 3/32" all around. Then I glued a piece out of the catalog to that. It was off of a matching cake safe on the same page. You don't want to glue the page first. It will tear when you try to drill through it.

It is actually a lot less time consuming to do baskets this way. I didn't have to coil the whole bottom and then start up the sides.

As you can see, I started by wrapping a bit of the wire at the start and then used the holes in the base exactly like I would if I were working with a woven base.

I did the "wrap four and then through the previous row" technique. The original was done with wrap one, previous row one. For a first try, I didn't want to waste the time that it would take to do that. If it works, I will do it again with that technique.

If you want to try baskets, I have a lot of tutorials under "baskets" in the labels on the sidebar. The coil technique starts here. http://caseymini.blogspot.com/2008/11/tisket-tasket.html

Anyway, I did six rows and fastened it off.

Here in the second photo you can see the one that I did and the one that MacKinzie-Childs did. You can also see the hole to the far right where I sacrificed the cake safe for the bottom.

Tessie hinted that she would like more, done in this way. She held the basket up and then proceeded to tell me, "You know, there are a lot more photos in that catalog that would make great bottoms for baskets...."

She is now happily at work destroying catalogs and magazines, right and left. She has a pile of torn pages about six inches high.....and she is still tearing!

I will be making baskets for the next century, if she has anything to say about it. I had better get started! This is one of my originals. Please give credit where credit is due if you copy. Thanks.

See you tomorrow.

17 comments:

Kathi said...

Simply beautiful! I'm thinking that MacKinzie-Childs is going to have tons of requests for calalogs.
I love these pretty floral prints!

DollZandThingZ said...

She is SO SPOILED! And I am glad-- because we get to see all the goodies you make for her. She does have very good taste and she does keep you busy! Wonderful basket!!

Sans! said...

I have always love your tips on making baskets, Casey! Thanks for this one too.

Rietje said...

Hi Casey, That's a lovely way to do a coiled basket! Thanks for the idea. I did a lot of different coiling stitches lately and I'm experimenting with some new material.I'm still addicted to miniature basketry.
Hugs Rianne

Papillon Bleu said...

Oooh I will have to try this!

Jill said...

That basket is gorgeous! It's so spot-on to the original basket~ so beautiful!

Hugs,
Jill

Miho Lunatique said...

I love this idea and I can't wait to try it out :)

Drora's minimundo said...

How beautiful! You always have the best ideas which makes it a pleasure to visit your blog.

Merri said...

Ohboy, you are doomed now. You won't have a moment's peace if Tessie has her way. Wait a minute..she never gives you a moment's peace anyway, so rock on! Love the little basket!

Deni said...

no doubt about you Casey your fast making all these wonderful minis!
luv that book holder

Eva R. Hernández said...

¡Qué original! ¡me encanta la idea!

Heather said...

So lovely. It looks simple enough that I might give it a try!

I'm not familiar with MacKinzie Childs. I'll have to check it out!

Thanks so much for the tutorial. And thanks to Tessie for bringing to your attention!

Caseymini said...

I put the url for MacKinzie Childs in the blog. I should have in the first place. Now you can all go see.

Plushpussycat said...

I love visiting your blog, Casey! You always have such great ideas for projects!
Jennifer

Patty said...

Casey, I love how vintage this basket looks! What a treat to have the tutorials from you to look at!! Thank you so much.

otterine said...

Beautiful! It's such an elegant basket.

Karin F. said...

oh gee Casey, d'ya think Tessie could induce you to make some tutorials for the flower market furniture? It'd be awesome for an Alice teaparty scene. I have that in favs since your last mention of the store.
hugs K